overcome fear

For some freelance writers, it seems like asking for referrals and selling comes easy. They have a huge network of people they’ve cultivated relationships with. Their network hooks them up with new clients. And it’s easy for the same freelance writers to talk about their business in any situation, and get referrals.

If you’re afraid to ask for referrals, you’ve probably heard that fraidy-cat freelance writer voice inside your head. You know, the one trying to convince you that:

People will think you’re desperate

You’re running some kind of scam

You can’t possibly provide a service valuable enough to help in any meaningful way

That cat needs to go. It took me a long time to figure this out. But when I finally did, I got a response in 10 minutes, a potential project, and scored another referral for more work. Here’s how I did it:

Do you ever let your personal “issues” hold you back when it comes to your writing career?

I have – after going through some very toxic relationships – and it nearly ruined both my career and my life. But I managed to come out on top – and I was able to become the well-paid writer I was meant to be. So, how’d I manage to overcome a legacy of toxic abuse and build a thriving writing career?

Would you be shocked if I told you that my “issues” literally became my content niche? They did – these days, I’m also a certified life coach who specializes in narcissistic abuse recovery.

So why am I writing about abuse? Why do I keep talking about it? Because I am a survivor myself – and because, quite honestly, the universe planted this particular niche in my front yard for a reason. These days, I make a pretty healthy living from my work – and yes, I’m writing every single day now. Here’s how it happened…

It was a big win for me, even though it wasn’t in my niche (because I hadn’t really figured out what my niche was yet). The client actually reached out to me after seeing some of my blog posts on Facebook.

But there was a problem. I had no idea what to charge, and the client wanted to know my rate.

I pored over everything I could find online, asked around, and finally settled on a rate of $50 per 500-750 word blog post. I sent the editor my rates, and voila – I had my first contract in place.

I jumped into writing awesome blog content for this client. But it didn’t take long to start second guessing my rate. Was I charging enough for this type of work? What were other writings charging for writing similar blog content? What would need to happen to raise my rates and keep this client?

Why? It’s too hard. I don’t know anything about video editing. And it will cost too much to pay someone else to do it.

But video is a powerful marketing tool.

In a recent Forbes report, 75 percent of business executives said they watch work-related videos weekly. An estimated 54 percent of senior executives share videos with their team. And industry analysts estimate that 96 percent of businesses use video for online marketing, sales, and communication.

So I decided it was time to make my own marketing video to attract freelance clients.